Posthumanism: Intra-active Entanglements of Parental Involvement (as a Possibility of Change-Making)

Abstract

This chapter begins with a presentation of posthumanism/agential realism as a theoretical perspective entangling with early childhood education and care (ECEC), and as an ethical project, crucial for sustainable futures of all earthlings. After presenting the key concepts of Barad (Meeting the universe halfway: quantum physics and the entanglement of matter and meaning. Duke University Press, 2007), to whom the theoretical perspective of agential realism can be attributed, I try to show how the practice of parental involvement, usually understood as a human–human phenomenon, can be challenged and enhanced with this theoretical anchoring. The empirical example described further in the chapter, shows how ECEC staff in one kindergarten in Norway became empowered by this theoretical perspective to try out a different way of arranging a parental meeting. The chapter concludes by pointing to the necessity of theories that empower the vibrant intuitions of ECEC teachers and encourage them to try out new (more-than-human) ways of improving the institutional practices.